


Turquoise

by SailorChibi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU to Avengers Endgame, Angst, Angst and Fluff, Angst and Fluff and Feels, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, Loki (Marvel) Lives, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Magical Tony Stark, Nicknames, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Possessive Loki (Marvel), Powerful Tony Stark, Protective Loki (Marvel), Protective Tony Stark, Soul Bond, Soulmates, Tags Subject to Change, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, lets be honest it never died lmao, not team Cap friendly, not wanda maximoff friendly, planning to stop thanos, powerful loki (marvel), that's right MY SALT IS BACK, tony stark acts as loki's anchor, tony stark with magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-05-16 05:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19311586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: No sooner has Tony Stark resigned himself to dying in space than Loki shows up on the ship. Loki, who looks about as close to death as Tony feels, has a way to stop Thanos - but it requires a bond. Apermanentbond. A bond that will change everything in Tony's life - and the universe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm super excited for this one. Frostiron endgame AU with soul bonds? HECK YEAH SIGN ME UP.

“It’s you.”

For a moment, Tony seriously thought he’d hallucinated those two words. It would make sense if he had. The oxygen in the ship was very close to running out entirely. No matter how deeply or slowly he breathed, it felt as though his lungs weren’t getting enough air. And honestly, while he’d always thought he would hallucinate in his last moments, he’d figured it would be hallucinations of Pepper or Rhodey or even Peter.

Not Loki.

“Are you still alive?”

Tony opened his eyes to stare at the god above him and then paused, shocked. Had he the breath to speak, he would’ve posed the same question to Loki. He’d _never_ seen Loki in this poor a shape, not even following the Battle of New York. Loki literally didn’t even have the strength to stand on his own power; he was leaning heavily against the side of the ship, and his whole body was trembling. His clothing was ripped and torn and covered in blood. One of his arms hung at an odd angle.

“Ah, a sign of life,” Loki murmured, and sank to his knees like he couldn’t stand any longer. He sat beside Tony for several seconds, head bowed. Perhaps he was dying too, Tony mused. It would be nice, after all this, to not die alone, even if it was Loki.

His eyes drifted shut again, and he was on the verge of passing out when cold fingers touched his hand. Green light played across the insides of Tony’s eyelids. Magic, he realized slowly. It was nothing more than pure instinct to be alarmed when magic was involved at this point. Magic had never done anything good for him. Magic was pain and horrible nightmares and being forced to do things against his will.

“Not all magic is like that.”

Tony turned, surprised to find he _could_ turn when he didn’t remember having the strength to sit up, to find Loki behind him. This version of Loki looked health _ier_ , but was still a far cry from looking _healthy_. Tony crossed his arms over his chest and then promptly winced in pain at the movement. He might have been able to stand, wherever they were, but the stab wound in his side still throbbed and he thought it was probably infected.

“Where are we?” he asked Loki. “What did you do?”

“I’m using my magic so that we can speak mind to mind. Your body is still on the ship,” Loki replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t have the power to save you right now.”

“As though you would with no strings attached even if you could?” Tony said skeptically.

Loki actually smiled at that. “You’re smarter than my brother,” he observed. “I can save you, Stark.”

“You just said you can’t,” Tony pointed out.

“I said I don’t have the power to save you _right now_ , which is the truth. But if you bond yourself with me, I will have ample power to transport the ship, and the both of us, back to Earth.”

Tony stared at him, eyes narrowed. The casual way Loki had said that couldn’t mean anything good. “What do you mean by bond?”

“I don’t have the time to explain it in full detail. It would require years of magical study for you to truly understand,” Loki said loftily.

“Then give me the short version,” Tony said flatly. He was surprised when Loki sighed and acquiesced without further argument.

“It’s rare, and I’ve never seen it done before,” he admitted. “But my… well, I have heard the stories. At its core, bonding weaves two souls together. I will be able to draw power from your soul, and you will act as an anchor to me. In return, your life span will match mine.” Loki paused and openly looked him over, then added, “You may also gain some other benefits, if it turns out that our souls are well matched.”

“You want me to act as a _battery_ for you? Hell no,” Tony said, scoffing. He’d had more than enough of being treated like a commodity. Stane, the Avengers… he was sick of it.

Loki raised a hand. “Don’t be so quick to say no, Stark. You’re dying. I can’t save you; I’m close to dying as well, though my chances of survival are still considerably improved over yours.”

Tony wasn’t so sure about that, but decided not to push that particular issue. He just shrugged. “Then why even bother?” 

“Because I want to kill Thanos,” Loki said, eyes blazing with sudden rage. “I’m sure you want to live long enough to do the same. And as I am, I’m not strong enough to take him down. I tried. He attacked the ship that Thor, Banner, Valkyrie and I were on, but the four of us combined _plus_ the other Asgardians who tried to help weren’t enough to stop him. As I am, I’m not enough.” The admittance seemed to pain him.

There were so many questions Tony wanted to ask. He’d heard, very briefly, from Bruce that the Asgardian ship had been attacked, but Bruce had neglected to mention that Loki had been there too. He also hadn’t said anything about Valkyrie, whoever that was. Then again, they hadn’t exactly had time for a leisurely conversation before Thanos’ minions had attached. 

But now wasn’t the time to get the full story, and besides that Tony was rather focused on another part of Loki’s words. Because the truth was, he really did hate the idea of dying before Thanos was dealt with. He knew that Earth was going to be an absolute mess, and the idea of any remaining Avengers trying to guide people through this was laughable. Rogers, Romanov, Barton, Wilson, Maximoff – anything any of them did was bound to make this situation a hundred times worse.

“I can’t deny that,” Tony said grudgingly. “I do want to kill Thanos and reverse what he’s done. But I’m not sure bonding with you is the answer, considering that you tried to destroy Earth too.”

“I was brainwashed by Thanos to do that,” Loki snapped. “I have little interest in your pathetic mortal world. Do you really think that ruling humanity is how I want to spend the remainder of my life? You have no magic, no riches, nothing of worth. The _only_ thing you had, and the reason Thanos sent me to your planet in the first place, was an Infinity Stone.”

“You were brainwashed. I’m supposed to just believe that convenient excuse?” Tony said. It was the wrong thing to say. He was absolutely amazed to see something that looked very much like _hurt_ flash across Loki’s face. The shock of it was enough to take his breath away.

“Never mind, then. I see this isn’t going to work.” Loki started to turn away.

“Wait!”

The word was out before Tony could stop it, before he’d even known he was going to say it. Remarkably, Loki actually paused. They looked at each other for a long, quiet moment. Tony might be a crap judge of character when it came to people, but he could read an opponent like no one’s business. It was a skill that had taken him far in the business world. And right now, he realized he believed Loki.

When the hell had that happened?

He’d always thought it was strange that Thor spoke so positively of his brother. The sarcastic but gentle-hearted Loki that Thor talked about seemed to be so at odds with homicidal maniac who’d attacked Earth. Tony had chalked it up to Thor being caught up in nostalgia. But maybe that wasn’t the case after all. Tony couldn’t believe he was even thinking this, but maybe there was more to the story than any of them, even Thor, had realized.

“This bonding thing… it’s permanent?” Tony said, when he realized that Loki was waiting for him to speak.

“Yes. There will be nothing in the universe that can tear us apart. You have to be mine, Stark, to make this work.” There was something quietly intense about Loki’s face, his voice, the way he was standing, and it all combined to send chills rushing down Tony’s spine.

Tony stared at him, and thought about Pepper. About what he and Pepper were on the verge of. It could go one of two ways at this point; they were either going to split up and never date again, or they were going to get married. He honestly didn’t know which way they were headed, but he’d always thought he’d have the chance to find out. One way or the other, he realized slowly, that wasn’t going to happen.

Either he agreed to do what Loki was suggesting, or Tony, and possibly Loki, would both die out here. There was no one coming to rescue either one of them. Earth was in a state of total disarray. The only ones who knew Tony was even out here was FRIDAY and Pepper, and they wouldn’t have the first idea about where to look for him. The ship had drifted too far away from Titan. He didn’t even think it was heading towards Earth anymore; it was likely he’d gone entirely off course.

There was really only one choice, wasn’t there? No matter what anyone said about him, Tony prided himself on never backing down from something difficult. People might scorn or mock or judge the way he handled things, but he still stepped up and did it no matter what. He’d dealt with the Ten Rings, the Mandarin, Sheildra, and countless others – and now he’d deal with Thanos. He squared his shoulders and looked Loki right in his eyes. At least, he thought to himself with morbid amusement, Loki wasn’t unattractive.

“And you’ll be mine in return? Because I have to tell you, I don’t do one-sided relationships. It’s equal or nothing,” Tony said, attempting to make his voice casual. 

Loki looked at him with an expression of great curiosity, and said, “Of course” like that was the stupidest question he’d ever heard. But that was also sort of comforting, because it implied that Loki wasn’t trying to take advantage of the situation.

This was still a pretty terrible idea, and Tony knew that Rhodey would be having a conniption if he was aware of what Tony was considering right now. But if the choice was between being stuck with Loki forever and dying right now… Tony was selfish enough to want to live. He had things to do. People to save. Genocidal aliens to kill. No matter how horrible being bonded to Loki ended up being, so long as they had a common goal in killing Thanos it wouldn’t be unbearable…

He hoped.

“Okay.”

Loki blinked at him for a moment, then recovered. “Okay?”

Tony nodded. “Okay. I’m agreeing to bond with you. Do… whatever it is you need to do, and then get us home.”

“You understand I don’t know exactly what will happen?” Loki said, sounding uncustomarily hesitant. “Like I said, I’ve never seen it done before. And from what I heard, the results were different with each pair depending on how well matched they were. If we’re a poor enough match, this could kill us both.”

He’d neglected to mention that last part before, but Tony still shrugged. “We’re going to die anyway, right?” he asked. No matter how much Loki pointed out that his chances of survival were better, Tony suspected that they weren’t _much_ better. Otherwise, he doubted Loki would be here proposing something so insane.

“I like you, Stark. You’re crazy,” Loki said with a faint smile.

“Right back at you, Reindeer Games,” Tony said, shrugging. He realized that the nickname didn’t really fit anymore now that Loki’s helmet was gone. He’d have to come up with some new ones and asked, “So how do we do this?” 

“Come here.” Loki opened his arms.

Tony looked at him like he was crazy, but Loki didn’t move. He stood perfectly still, arms out. Tony hesitated, but finally realized Loki was serious. It was supremely awkward to walk into Loki’s arms for a hug, but, once they were actually standing face-to-face and Loki’s arms were wrapped around him, it wasn’t that bad. Even wounded, Loki was strong enough that Tony could lean into him – and that’s exactly what he found himself doing, even without conscious thought.

“Relax, Stark,” Loki whispered, and Tony closed his eyes as he rested his head on Loki’s shoulder. Green light, Loki’s magic, and blue light the color of the arc reactor, filled his mind. He could hear Loki whispering something in a language he didn’t understand. The lights began to meld together into the most beautiful shade of turquoise that Tony had ever seen, soft and clear and breathtaking. He gladly fell into it.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony could breathe.

That probably sounded like a stupid thing to take note of, but when you went several days struggling for each breath because you knew you were running out of oxygen, being able to take a deep breath and actually feel fresh air flood your lungs wasn’t something to take for granted. Tony spent several seconds just enjoying the fact that breathing required no effort before he bothered to open his eyes.

Green grass and a blue sky were the first two things he saw, and Tony could’ve cried with relief. He drank in the sight greedily, because it hadn’t been that long ago that he’d been convinced he’d never seen Earth again. In the distance, he spotted what was unmistakably the Compound. It was maybe a five or ten minute walk north, so Loki had gotten them pretty close. 

Speaking of Loki, Tony tipped his head up and found himself looking at Loki’s chin. His head was cushioned against Loki’s chest, and both of Loki’s arms were still wrapped tightly around him. Just a quick glimpse told Tony that Loki no longer looked like he was dying. It was only then that Tony realized he didn’t hurt anymore either. All of those aches and pains, plus the constant burn in his side, were gone.

He immediately sat up and pulled up his shirt to see. The place where Thanos had stabbed him had become infected in spite of Tony’s best efforts, oozing pus and giving off heat. The skin around it had turned an ugly red. He’d done his best with it, but the ship hadn’t exactly been equipped with medical supplies. Had the lack of oxygen not killed him, the infected wound would have.

But now the wound was gone, as though it had never been there at all. Tony touched the spot just to make sure and felt only smooth, undamaged skin. He pulled his shirt up further and was shocked to see that the scars from where the arc reactor had been inserted, and then removed, were gone too – but the reactor itself was still there, re-embedded in his chest. The soft blue light shone brightly, as though mocking Tony’s deepening confusion. 

“What the hell?” Tony said to himself. It didn’t make any sense. He could take a fuller, deeper breath of air than he had in years. His lung capacity hadn’t been back to 100% even after the reactor was removed. Yet the reactor was back in his body. Two plus two wasn’t adding up.

“Magic.”

Tony startled, not having realized Loki was awake. “What?”

“It’s a source of power for you,” said Loki, sitting up and combing his fingers through his hair. “And, I suppose, for me.”

“Did you do this?” Tony demanded, pointing to the reactor.

“No. Not consciously. Once I set the process in motion, I had no control over what happened. We’re still alive, so that must mean our souls were well matched in some way.” Loki sighed. He looked, and there was no other word for it, cranky.

“Great,” Tony muttered, pulling his shirt back down. He’d need to get a full scan of his body done as soon as possible. Magic wasn’t a good enough answer. He needed to know if the reactor was doing any damage. It seemed unlikely that it could be in Tony’s body and _not_ do damage, but magic was a tricky thing. He wasn’t really sure what Loki meant by a source of power, either – that sounded slightly ominous.

He got to his feet, feeling only a little unsteady over the sudden difference in gravity, and dusted himself off. His clothing had definitely seen better days. He couldn’t wait to take a long, hot shower and then eat something that wasn’t dehydrated. A cheeseburger would be really good right now. His mouth watered just thinking about it and he licked his lips, looking down at Loki.

“Well, are you coming? Come on. I want to shower and get food,” Tony said.

Loki seemed a little surprised by that, but stood up with no comment. They fell into step beside each other, walking towards the Compound. As they grew closer, Tony noticed that the grass hadn’t been cut. It was shin-deep now. Either no one was staying at the Compound right now and the place had been abandoned, or whoever was staying there hadn’t cared about the landscape. 

Based on what had happened he thought it more likely to be the latter, and quickened his pace. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been floating in space, but it had to have been at least a month – and time could move differently in space. Did everyone on Earth think that he was dead? Who was even still alive to think that? He didn’t know if he wanted to contact Pepper or Rhodey first.

And then the decision was taken out of Tony’s hands, because Rhodey raced out of the Compound screaming Tony’s name. Tony ran towards him, forgetting all about Loki, and threw himself into his best friend’s arms. It felt so good to have Rhodey’s arms close around him. Rhodey was crying and Tony was crying too, flinging his arms around Rhodey’s neck. He could smell Rhodey’s sweat and cologne and that, more than anything, proved that this wasn’t an illusion, and all Tony could think was that the soul bond was worth it just for this one moment.

“I thought you were dead,” Rhodey croaked out finally, and it broke Tony’s heart to hear how exhausted Rhodey sounded. It reminded him of when he was kidnapped in Afghanistan and Rhodey had literally stayed up for days at a time trying to find him.

“I almost was,” Tony said, and that made him remember Loki. He looked around to find that Loki was standing about ten feet away with his back to them – either to give them privacy or maybe because their emotional reunion made him uncomfortable, Tony wasn’t sure.

“Holy fuck, is that Loki?” Rhodey said, tensing up.

“It’s okay, Honey bear,” Tony said quickly, putting a hand on Rhodey’s shoulder. “He can’t hurt me. I think.” He actually wasn’t too sure about that, he realized. There hadn’t been much time for them to talk about the finer details of the bond before Loki made it happen. 

But if their souls were bond together then logically it stood to reason that it would be counter-intuitive for Loki to hurt him or anyone Tony cared about, right? And Loki was many things, but he wasn’t stupid or foolish. He had to know that for Thanos to go down, it would be better for them to work together. Tony didn’t know why, but he had the feeling Loki _got_ that.

Plus, they were bond together permanently. Forever. That was a long time to be bond to someone your enemy. It was probably the first time, standing there with Rhodey’s arm around his shoulders, than Tony consciously realized that he no longer thought of Loki as his enemy. It was kind of a startling blow, all things considered, and Tony blinked stupidly for a few seconds as Rhodey scoffed.

“You sure about that, Tones?” he asked, eyeing Loki warily.

Loki turned around. “Whatever you may think of me, you’re hardly in a position to cast aside potential allies,” he said coolly. “I hate Thanos just as much as you do, and would very much like to see him obliterated as soon as possible. Do you really think I would’ve rescued your friend if that weren’t the case?”

“ _He_ rescued you?” Rhodey said in disbelief.

“It was a mutual rescuing,” Tony said quickly, but didn’t elaborate too much. Too much information right now would just make Rhodey freak out.

Fortunately, Loki seemed to agree and merely said, “I have used a great amount of magic in the past two days. I believe I was promised a shower and food.”

“Food. A cheeseburger,” Tony said, grabbing at Rhodey’s hand. He tugged playfully. “A cheeseburger, Rhodey. I want one. I want one _so bad_.”

Rhodey laughed, some of the wariness draining away, and nodded. “Yeah, okay. You can have all the cheeseburgers you want. I’ll ask Happy to bring them.”

“He survived?” Tony said.

“Yeah. He and Pepper both,” Rhodey said with a gentle look. Tony swallowed, keenly aware of the weight of Loki’s eyes on him. It didn’t stop him from wanting to see Pepper, though. Even if they weren’t – couldn’t be – anything more than close friends, she would always mean the world to him.

“That’s good,” Tony said. “Rhodey, I – I lost the kid.”

“I’m sorry,” Rhodey said quietly.

Tony just nodded and didn’t say anything else, though – and he didn’t know how he knew this – he could tell that Loki was very curious about ‘the kid’. He was relieved when Rhodey turned and led them both into the Compound. Tony had expected it to be empty just based on the state of the outside, so he was surprised to see that it was about half-full of people. 

“Who are all these people?” Tony whispered to Rhodey. 

“Some are ex-SHIELD agents. Some are people who just didn’t have anywhere else to go. Some Asgardians,” Rhodey said, and Loki’s head snapped up.

At the same time, there came a cry from the swell of people. “Loki?”

“Oh,” Loki said, very faintly, and Tony had to suppress the bizarre desire to reach over and take Loki’s hand in an effort to comfort him. It wouldn’t have worked, anyway.

Thor literally burst out of the crowd, knocking a handful of men right off their feet, and launched himself at Loki. He literally scooped Loki up off the ground in an enormous bear hug. Loki made a strangled sound and, curiously, Tony felt his own lungs tightening slightly. He pressed a hand to his chest, staring at Loki in wonder. Either the arc reactor was mysteriously malfunctioning, or – 

“Uh, Thor, I don’t think he can breathe,” Tony called out.

“Oh. Oh, right.” Thor’s eyes were full of tears as he set Loki down. Loki breathed in sharply and the tightness in Tony’s chest vanished, which, huh. That was curious and slightly alarming.

“Idiot,” Loki said raggedly, but there wasn’t much heat to his voice. Thor just beamed and pulled him into another big hug.

“I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Brother. I knew you would survive!” Thor said emotionally. “But how –” He stopped abruptly as he looked over at Tony, then back to Loki. Back to Tony, then back to Loki. His eyes went very wide.

“Not here,” Loki snapped at him.

“What? What is it?” Rhodey said.

“It’s nothing. Cheeseburgers! You promised me cheeseburgers, remember?” Tony said, nudging his friend in the side. “Come on. I’m in desperate need of some beefy, cheesy goodness.”

“Right,” Rhodey said slowly, eyes narrowed, but took out his phone to text Happy.

“I’m so glad to know you made it too, Tony,” Thor said, hugging Tony. Into Tony’s ear, he whispered, “What in the Nine Realms have you done?”

“I survived. _We_ survived,” Tony said. He squirmed out of Thor’s grip, which was no easy fit, and, for reasons he couldn’t quite define to himself, went to stand beside Loki. Was there a physical manifestation of the bond? There had to be, but no one else was looking at them oddly.

Well, some of the ex-SHIELD agents were pointing guns at Loki. But that wasn’t really unusual. Loki didn’t seem overly perturbed by the weaponry, but it was hard to say just what SHIELD had been working on in the past few years. He remembered Loki telling him that Tony’s lifeline was extended now too. But he wondered if that also meant that if Loki died then Tony would die too, and vice versa. That could be a problem.

“Stand down,” he said, waving a hand at the ex-agents.

“Not a chance in hell. That’s a wanted criminal!” one of them said.

“Uh, a wanted criminal who is going to help us save the world,” Tony said. He wasn’t sure how much Loki wanted shared, but at the very least they’d have to figure out some way to get Loki pardoned. The sudden realization of all the things they had to do in a short period of time weighed heavily on his shoulders, and he swayed in both emotional and physical exhaustion.

Loki gripped his shoulder. It was a firm grip, not bruising but tight enough for Tony to know that he couldn’t easily get away, and it was more welcoming than Tony could’ve expressed in words. He found himself leaning into the touch in a momentary bout of weakness, and, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a split second expression of shock on Loki’s face before it was smoothed away into a bland look.

“Alright, settle down,” Rhodey shouted, tucking his phone away, and moved forward to talk to the ex-agents, and Tony was more than happy to let him do it. All he wanted was a cheeseburger, a shower, and sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

While Rhodey dealt with things, Tony got the chance to sneak off and shower and change. Loki accompanied him, and Tony was surprised to realize that he didn’t mind Loki’s presence in the bedroom while he showered in the bathroom. It just felt _so good_ to take a hot shower. It was honestly one of the things he’d been dreaming about while lost in space.

As he climbed out, he wrapped a towel around his waist and called out, “Hey Green Eyes?”

There was shuffling out in the bedroom, and then Loki came to the door wearing a distasteful look. “I assume you’re referring to me. What is it with your incessant need for nicknames?”

“It’s just the way I am,” Tony said. “I can go back to calling you Reindeer Games if you want.”

Loki grimaced. “No. What do you want?”

“I thought you might want to shower. Get rid of that grimy, icky, I-almost-died feeling. The Compound has unlimited hot water, so you’re good to go if you want to,” Tony said. “FRIDAY can turn it on for you, and there’s fresh towels. I can rummage up some other clothes for you to wear.” He knew he was trying a little too hard to convince Loki to shower, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

“A shower,” Loki repeated. “Alright.”

They exchanged places, and the door closed behind Loki. Tony stared at the door for a moment and sighed. He really didn’t know how this was going to work, though he supposed they weren’t off to a terrible start. At least they weren’t fighting with each other. And no one had attacked Loki or Tony when they returned to the Compound. Plus, Rhodey and Thor were here. Things could only get better, right?

“Yeah right,” Tony muttered, shaking his head, and moved over to the dresser. He rummaged around until he came up with a comfortable pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt. When he pulled them on, they hung loosely off him. He no longer looked as emaciated as he had before Loki showed up – it must have been the bonding that had helped – but a quick glance in the mirror told him that he still looked thinner than he had before his trip into space. Regular meals would take care of that though.

He looked through all of his clothes, but didn’t find anything that would suit Loki. His stuff would be too small. He ventured across the hall into what had once been Steve’s room. He was surprised to see that most of Steve’s stuff was no longer there. Someone must have boxed it up. Steve? Rhodey? Either way, he was able to find some plain sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt that looked like they’d fit Loki.

By the time he walked back into the bedroom, the shower was just stopping. Tony moved closer to the door with the clothing tucked beneath his arm, but whatever he was going to say died a swift death when the door opened and Loki stepped out. Like Tony, he’d wound a towel around his waist. That left his chest bare. Tony stared at him. He’d never stopped to wonder what was underneath Loki’s clothing, but maybe he should have. He’d seen a lot of male chests in his time, and Loki had a _very nice_ chest.

“Stark?”

Tony snapped his eyes up. There was a hint of a smirk playing around Loki’s mouth as he held his hand out for the clothing, which Tony silently handed over. He was almost grateful when Loki stepped back into the bathroom to dress, because it gave him a moment to slap himself upside the head and scold himself for getting so caught off guard. Of course Loki was gorgeous. He was an Asgardian; it seemed to go with the territory.

It wasn’t like anything would be improved if Tony grabbed Loki by the face and kissed him.

He took a deep breath. “You ready for food?”

“Yes,” Loki said. It was weird to see him come out of the bathroom wearing sweats. His hair was already dry, and it hung in loose curls around his face. He looked normal. Not human, there would always be something otherworldly about Loki, but like he belonged here in Tony’s room. 

“Happy’s probably here by now,” Tony said, dragging his eyes away, and led the way out the door.

Happy had indeed arrived, bearing a huge bag of cheeseburgers and… Pepper. Tony ran to them when he saw them, and they both hugged him. Pepper cried. Happy blinked a lot and clapped Tony on the shoulder. The only time Happy teared up was when he asked about Peter, and Tony was forced to slowly shake his head. He would have given anything to not have to see the devastated look on Happy’s face in that moment.

Pepper touched Tony’s arm. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I know what Peter meant you.”

Her kindness and sympathy hurt, but Tony was well aware that they were being watched – Rhodey, Thor and Loki were all in the room too. So he forced a smile and nodded, putting his hand over hers. He thought Pepper might try to kiss him, but she didn’t. He couldn’t tell if it was because she didn’t want to, or because she could feel the laser-like eyes of Loki boring into them. 

They all sat around the table with the pile of cheeseburgers in the middle. Only Loki was slow to take one, unwrapping it and staring at the contents with a slightly puzzled expression. It was obvious he’d never had one before, because Tony noticed that Loki was watching Thor bite into one of the cheeseburgers with enthusiasm. Only once Thor failed to keel over and die on the spot did Loki take a cautious bite. He must have approved, because his next bite was significantly larger. 

That was good, Tony thought. He wasn’t sure he could have handled being bonded to someone who didn’t like cheeseburgers. He swiftly polished off three burgers of his own before sitting back with an exhausted sigh. No doubt he would pay for the greasy food later, but in the moment it was completely worth it. For a while there, he’d honestly thought he would never feel full and satisfied again.

“So,” Rhodey said, breaking the silence. “Let me ask the obvious. What the hell happened up there?”

Tony sighed. It wasn’t really a memory he wanted to re-live, considering he’d gone over the fight multiple times while stuck in space. He’d already examined every last detail from every angle, needing to know if there was a way things could have turned out differently. But he could appreciate why they all wanted to know. It was the last part of a story with a horrifying conclusion.

“Strange, Peter and I ended up on the ship. We went to Titan. It’s where Thanos is from,” Tony said. He closed his eyes, seeing the strangely barren planet in his mind’s eye. “The Guardians were there. They’re –”

“I met them,” Thor said, and Tony opened his eyes to stare at him. 

“That’s right. I forgot,” he said. “Well, we fought. It… didn’t go well.” He rubbed the place where Thanos had stabbed him. It was fully healed, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t used to it hurting. “Thanos got the time stone away from Strange, and then he was just… gone. Next thing we knew, Quill, Mantis, Drax and… Peter were gone too. Nebula made it through too, but she took off on her own.”

He knew they all knew that he was leaving massive amounts of story out, but Tony really didn’t want to go into it right now. He looked up at them all and added, “I floated in space for I don’t even know how long before Loki found me.”

All attention switched to Loki, who looked caught off guard, and Thor said, “I thought you perished, Brother. I was certain Thanos had killed you.”

“He almost did,” Loki said, setting the wrapper of his fourth cheeseburger down. He cleared his throat. “I was aware of what had happened. I was searching for Thanos. I thought I had locked onto the signature of the Infinity Stones, but it turned out to be Stark’s reactor instead.”

Rhodey looked at Tony, then back at Loki. “You’re telling me you just happened to stumble across Tony?” he asked skeptically.

Loki scowled. “Yes.”

That was a lie. Tony didn’t know how he knew that, but he did. And if he was right and it was a lie, that meant Loki had deliberately sought him out. It probably shouldn’t have been as much of a surprise as it was. If Loki had gone head-to-head with Thanos, he’d probably been closer to death than Tony had realized. As much as Loki had been Tony’s only hope, the reverse was also true. 

“And then what?” Thor asked pointedly, eyes flicking between them.

“I brought us home,” Loki said, meeting his brother’s eyes.

Home? Interesting. Tony glanced at Rhodey, Pepper and Happy to see if they had caught that, but all three of his dearest friends were too involved in watching the Asgardians gods try to silently intimidate each other. He didn’t tihnk he’d ever see the day when Loki referred to Earth as home. But something must have happened, Tony realized. Thor was here and there were other Asgardians here too. He’d have to get the full story out of either Loki or Thor once the two of them were done with their staring contest.

“How did you do that?” Thor asked finally.

Loki tipped his chin up slightly. “Magic.”

“Oh for god’s sake,” Tony said, exasperated. “He bound our souls together, okay? Meet my new soulmate.” He wrapped an arm around Loki’s shoulders and was surprised to find that Loki was comfortably cool to the touch. 

“Your soulmate?” Happy repeated, looking shocked. “Is that… like an actual thing?”

“Brother,” Thor breathed.

“Oh,” Pepper said, very softly, and Tony glanced at her. She didn’t look back at him, so he couldn’t tell what was going through her mind.

“Tony, what the hell?” Rhodey said.

Tony sighed. “It’s a whole magic thing, like Loki said. And before anyone gets mad, we didn’t have a choice okay? I was dying, Loki was dying… we had no way to get back here. We would have died up there, Rhodey. Like actually, no coming back from it, died.”

Rhodey paled. “Shit.”

“But you’re still alive,” Thor said, as though coming to a great realization, and Loki exhaled. He also leaned into Tony a little bit.

“I was surprised too,” Loki said dryly. “It seems Stark and I are well matched.”

“Well, you’re both sarcastic assholes, so there you go,” Happy said. He seemed to be the only one taking this in stride, but then again he’d been Tony’s bodyguard for years. The amount of sad, weird shit that Happy had been privvy to had surpassed even Pepper and Rhodey. 

“So you’re soulmates,” Rhodey said, looking like he was getting a headache. “What exactly does that mean?”

“We don’t really know yet,” Tony admitted. “But, you know. We’re still alive and most likely will be for a while, so. I figure that’s a bonus.” He gave a bright, forced smile. His arm was still around Loki’s shoulders, and Loki hadn’t shaken him off, so he left it there.

“That’s it. Next time you go off-planet, I’m coming with you,” Rhodey said.

Tony shrugged. “Deal. How did you know what happened?” He turned to Thor.

“I didn’t,” Thor said, shaking his head. “I’m not gifted in magic the way that Loki is. But I could sense that something has changed between you. You… you _feel_ the same now.”

“We feel the same?” Tony said. “That’s… yeah, that’s creepy.”

“It’s an Asgardian thing,” Loki muttered. “Having a soul bond means that we belong to each other. Forever.”

That word caused a heavy silence to fall over the table. Even Happy looked surprised by the declaration. Pepper still had her head bowed, but a very grim expression had come over Rhodey’s face. Thor seemed subdued as well. But the word didn’t scare Tony the way he thought it might, or even should. When he looked at the tired god sitting beside him, it didn’t seem so impossible to envision a future together – even if he didn’t have any idea of what that future might encompasse yet.

“It’ll be okay,” Tony said awkwardly, looking around the room. “Really. It will.” 

No one looked like they believed him. That was okay too. Tony wasn’t sure he believed himself. But what other choice did they have?


	4. Chapter 4

“So,” Rhodey said.

Tony paused in the middle of reaching for a hologram. “That doesn’t sound like a good ‘so’.”

“It’s not a bad ‘so’,” Rhodey said. He paused, then added, “Exactly.”

This wasn’t going to be pleasant. Tony closed his eyes for a moment, mentally bracing himself. He and Loki had only been back for three days, and so far things had been a whirlwind. Pepper had insisted that Tony see a doctor, who had diagnosed Tony with dehydration and malnutrition – but not to the point anyone would’ve expected considering how long Tony had been floating alone in space for. He supposed he had the bond to thank for that.

He now had a ‘prescription’ for steady meals and a good night’s sleep. The former he was doing okay with. The latter not so much. Sleeping wasn’t easy when every time you closed your eyes, you saw people literally disintegrating in front of you. He couldn’t get the sound of Peter’s broken pleading out of his ears, or Nebula screaming for her sister, or even Strange’s last words. They haunted him.

But that was okay, because Tony really didn’t have time to sleep. Stark Industries had suffered in the wake of the Decimation. Tony needed to figure out how to change that. A new Starkphone or Starktab might not solve everything, but he and Pepper both believed that an upgrade or, better yet, a new product would go a long way towards helping. On top of that, requests for his time were already pouring in from people who either wanted to hear from Tony Stark or Iron Man: his next two weeks were full of meetings already.

He hadn’t even touched the nanobots yet to see what kind of damage had been done, which was why he’d finally broken away from everyone and snuck down to the workshop. Rhodey had followed him – they’d barely been out of each other’s site – and watches as Tony tearfully greeted Dummy, Butterfingers and You all over again. The ‘bots freaked out every time they saw him and Tony couldn’t blame them for that.

“Alright, lay it on me,” Tony said finally, turning to look at his oldest friend. A little shiver of fear crept down his spine when he saw the expression on Rhodey’s face: somewhere between apprehension and reluctance. 

For some reason, he wished that Loki were in the room with them. Whatever news Rhodey was going to dump on him might’ve been easier if Loki had been there too, though Tony wasn’t sure why that was the case. But Loki was with Thor and the other Asgardians, he knew. Thor had been as attached to his brother as Rhodey was to Tony, and Loki was pretending that he didn’t like the attention even though he clearly did.

“Steve and the others contacted me this morning. They’re on their way here,” Rhodey blurted out. “They have permission to be back on American soil.”

Tony tensed, his shoulders hunching. “They do, do they?” He lifted a hand and rubbed absently at his chest. There was an odd, faint tugging sensation that he couldn’t seem to get rid of.

“They haven’t been pardoned, exactly. The whole process seems to have been shelved for the time being. Plus, you know, they fought in Wakanda. Even if we lost miserably, people looked at them favorably for that,” Rhodey said. He was talking too fast, a sure sign that he was nervous.

“Right,” Tony said, very quietly. He supposed that shouldn’t have surprised him. Following the so-called civil war, the Avengers hadn’t been very popular in the eyes of the public or the media. Tony had done what he could to mitigate the fall-out, but frankly he’d been, and still was, done with trying to make Captain America and his band of rogues look good to people. For once, Tony had decided, Cap could figure all that out on his own.

And of course, Thanos had swooped in and fucked everyone over and offered Cap and his team the perfect opportunity. Tony gritted his teeth, trying to push aside the irritation. Once again, Steve came through smelling like roses. It was Tony who had been abandoned on a planet, lost in space while nearly dying from wounds sustained in battle, forced to put his trust into a potential criminal just to get home, all the while the people on Earth wondered where Iron Man was.

“I’m sorry, Tones,” Rhodey said, standing. He got close enough to clap a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “I can’t stop them from coming here. They’re technically still Avengers and –”

“It’s fine,” Tony said with a shake of his head. Rhodey would probably be singing a different tune if he knew the full story of what had happened in Siberia. Tony had told those closest to him a lightly edited story, carefully omitting any mention of what had set off the fight. He’d merely said that Rogers and Barnes hadn’t been happy that Tony had shown up, and that Tony had lost the resulting battle.

The thought of seeing Rogers again now still made him feel sick with panic. Maybe Tony should’ve been over it after all this time, but he wasn’t. The betrayal of it all ran too deep for that. Not just the fact that Rogers hadn’t told him about his parents, but the glossing over of what Maximoff had done, plus all the times that Tony had _told_ them what was going to happen, only to be mocked and dismissed. 

He had exactly zero interest in conversing with Rogers, nevermind fighting with him.

“You don’t have to be fine with it. I get that you’re pissed and you have every right to be. But…” 

“But?” Tony repeated, eyeing Rhodey.

“We all need to fight together to defeat Thanos,” Rhodey said bluntly. “He’s crazy strong. It’s going to take everything we have and then some to bring him down and reverse the damage he’s done. I don’t think we’re in a position to say no to anyone at this point. Especially not people who are experienced fighters and who have fought Thanos before and know what he’s capable of. Were doing this for the whole planet. For everyone that he killed. For –”

“Yeah, I get it,” Tony snapped, because he was almost positive that the next word out of Rhodey’s mouth would’ve been Peter’s name and that was not something he could handle right now. He rubbed harder at his chest, which attracted Rhodey’s attention.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked, puzzled.

“I don’t know. My chest aches,” Tony said. Possibly because of the subject matter at hand, though he didn’t say that.

Rhodey’s eyes widened. “Are you having a heart attack?”

“What? No,” Tony said, irritated. “There are more symptoms for a heart attack than just chest pain. I don’t know what they all are, but –” In the next instant, he had to clutch at the console to keep himself from falling over as information about heart attacks suddenly flooded into his brain. 

“Tony!” Rhodey shouted. 

“I’m fine!” Tony insisted, straightening up as fast as he could. 

Rhodey was looking at him worriedly. “Are you sure? Man, you’re scaring me. Maybe we should go upstairs and sit down. When was the last time you ate?”

Tony sighed, blinking away the dizziness. “You had breakfast with me, remember?”

“Still…” Rhodey didn’t look convinced.

“Okay, fine,” Tony said, figuring it was easier to give in. He needed to talk to Loki anyway. This wasn’t the first… _unusual_ thing that had happened since they arrived back on Earth. Tony’s very presence seemed to be enough to switch machines on. Just walking into the kitchen caused the coffee maker to turn on, even though FRIDAY swore it wasn’t her doing. It was very strange and there seemed to be an obvious solution.

He accompanied Rhodey upstairs, pointedly ignoring the very worried looks that Rhodey kept sending him, and was relieved to find that Loki and Thor sitting in the kitchen. Tony didn’t pay them much attention, way more preoccupied with how the aching in his chest suddenly subsided. It was still present, but it wasn’t so much a tugging anymore as a faint feeling of… _needing_ something.

Experimentally, Tony walked over and put his hand on Loki’s shoulder. The hem of Loki’s shirt dipped low enough that Tony’s thumb grazed Loki’s bare skin. Immediately, the sensation in his chest vanished entirely and was replaced by a little pulse of warmth that traveled from the tips of Tony’s toes to the top of his head. Beneath his hand, Loki suddenly relaxed. 

Tony narrowed his eyes slightly. “Let’s talk.”

“What’s going on?” Rhodey asked, looking between them.

“Nothing,” Tony said, relieved when Loki got up without further argument. The expression on Thor’s face was a little too knowing for Tony’s tastes. This wasn’t a conversation that needed to be held in front of other people.

They left the kitchen and went to the nearest empty room, a boardroom that looked as though it hadn’t been touched in months. Tony wrinkled his nose at the amount of dust covering everything and crossed his arms, making no move to sit down. Loki shut the door and turned to look at him. His face was perfectly smooth, giving nothing away, but Tony knew he was troubled. He didn’t know _how_ he knew, but he knew.

“What did you want to talk about?” Loki asked, all innocence.

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know! What the hell is going on?” Tony demanded.

Loki sighed and dropped all pretense. “It’s the bond.”

“What do you mean, it’s the bond? What’s it doing?” Tony said.

“I told you I’ve never seen one in person before, so I can’t be completely certain… but Frigga once told me that the stronger the bond, the more time it can take to stabilize.” Loki crossed his arms too. “My guess is that physical distance between us puts too much of a strain on the bond at this point in time, when it’s not fully settled.”

Somewhere between frustration and disbelief, Tony squinted at him. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Loki said. It helped that he seemed no more pleased about the prospect than Tony did. “How long before you felt anything?”

Tony had to stop to think about it. “Maybe half an hour?” he said after a moment. “It got worse when –”

“When?” Looki looked at him.

“When Rhodey started talking about how Cap and the others are on their way here,” Tony said reluctantly.

“Ah.” Loki frowned then. “Perhaps in times of discomfort, it’s worse.”

“I wasn’t in discomfort,” Tony objected, even though he definitely had been. 

“Of course not,” Loki said, amused.

Tony pouted. “I wasn’t.”

“I believe you,” Loki said, which was such an obvious lie that Tony scowled at him.

“Whatever. This is going to be a problem!”

“It might not be as bad as you think. When we’re in the same room, it’s not an issue. Though touching after prolonged separation helped.” Loki drummed his fingers on his arm, eyes distant, which, Tony had come to realize, meant that Loki was thinking.

“There’s something else, in the interest of full disclosure,” Tony said. He would’ve kept it to himself, but things like this usually got worse before they got better. And at any rate, he was looking at the one person who might actually be able to give him some answers. Though to some respect, he suspected he already knew what Loki was going to tell him.

“What?” Loki snapped to attention instantly, giving Tony his full attention.

“I don’t fully know how to explain it, but machines keep automatically turning themselves on and off in my presence. Before you ask, that’s not normal for Midgardian machines. And earlier, Rhodey asked me if I was having a heart attack and I said no but that I didn’t know all the symptoms, and it was just like… boom. All the information I could ever want to know was magically downloaded into my brain,” Tony said.

“Oh,” Loki said, very quietly.

“What? Oh what?!” Tony said.

“I believe there have been instances where certain abilities leaked across a bond,” Loki said slowly. “It particularly makes sense in a situation like ours, I suppose, where you’re my anchor and I can draw power from you. It sounds to me like you’ve developed magic of a sort.”

That was exactly what Tony hadn’t wanted to hear; he threw his hands up in the air and said, exasperated, “Well that’s fucking great, one more thing to deal with!”

Loki just shrugged. “You asked.”


	5. Chapter 5

There came a knock at the door before their conversation could continue. Then it opened, and Rhodey stuck his head in. "Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to tell you I got an E.T.A on Cap's team. They're about two hours out."

Tony immediately felt a jolt of panic mingled with dismay. He wasn't ready for this. He hadn't had to talk to Rogers in months; he was actually grateful, in a twisted sort of way, to Maw for attacking before Tony had had to follow through with actually calling Rogers on the phone. But of course that wasn't the end of it. Tony was never that lucky. Now he was going to have to put up with them being here, in the same room as him. His pulse quickened as he suddenly considered the possibility that Rogers might even have brought Barnes along with him - _if_ Barnes had survived.

"Thanks," Tony said hoarsely. He licked his lips to wet them. "Do you - uh - do you know who all is coming?"

"I didn't ask. Do you want me to?" Rhodey asked.

"No, don't bother. Thanks." Tony gave Rhodey a significant look and nodded towards Loki, hoping that Rhodey would get the hint that he and Loki weren't finished. Rhodey, thankfully, nodded in understanding and obligingly closed the door. This time, Tony walked over and locked it.

Then he just stood there for a moment, trying to control the emotions raging through him. It bothered him that, even after all this time, he was allowing the great Captain America to have so much control over him. He wanted to be able to strut out there like he didn't care about any of them. But how was he supposed to do that when just thinking about seeing Rogers, Barnes or Maximoff was enough to make him feel like he wanted to sick? He shuddered inwardly at the thought of Maximoff using her damned magic on him again, that cold red seeping into his brain and making him see terrible things - 

"Relax." Hands ghosted over Tony's shoulders before pressing lightly against his chest, pulling him backwards against a familiar, lightly muscled body. Green light played behind Tony's eyelids, so different from Maximoff's terrifying red light that Tony unwittingly relaxed.

"What are you doing?" he mumbled, eyes still shut. 

"You were hyperventilating," Loki murmured, his lips pressed to Tony's ear. "I could feel the panic and dread racing through. What did he do to you, this captain of yours?"

Tony snorted. "He's no captain of mine," he said bitterly. 

"Now I'm even more curious," Loki said. 

"Why do you care?" Tony asked. Loki's left arm was pressed across Tony's midsection. His right arm was draped across Tony's chest. It was like being enclosed in Loki, except it wasn't nearly as frightening as Tony thought it should have been. Especially when the light went from green to that familiar turquoise that Tony had seen on the ship, the one from their bond. 

"Because what affects you now affects me," said Loki simply. "Your enemies are my enemies. My enemies are your enemies. What threatens you is a direct threat to me. If this Captain is someone that causes you so much concern, it means that I should also be wary. I would appreciate knowing exactly _why_ I should be wary, and what I should be prepared to look out for." His voice deepened with amusement. "And also, I would like to know if what he's done requires retaliation in any way."

A chill ran down Tony's spine at that last sentence, but not in a bad way. More like a too-good way. He cleared his throat. "I haven't told anyone. What makes you think I'll tell you?"

Loki hummed softly. "We're going to be spending the rest of forever together. Are you trying to make me believe that you never intend to share your past?"

"Okay, fine. I don't think it's a story you're going to care much about," Tony said. Normally he would've felt panicked at the thought of telling anyone what had happened. It was too easy to believe that people might not believe him, or would take Rogers's side over Tony's. But he could distantly feel a wave of soothing calm peppered with genuine curiosity, and that made it hard to be too worried about anything. He was pretty sure that what he was feeling were Loki's emotions, sliding across the bond. And it also helped that Loki can no prior connection to Rogers or Barnes.

"Let me be the judge of that," said Loki, very quietly.

Tony sighed and began. "Honestly, things between Roger and I have always been tense. I thought that, given enough time, he'd see I could be a good addition to the team and he would lean on me more. I was an idiot. A stupid idiot. Rogers was never interested in being my friend, or even being my teammate. Right from day one, I think he was keeping things from me."

There was a pulse of anger that wasn't Tony's before Loki spoke. "What was he hiding?"

"To start with? He didn't tell me that his best friend Bucky Barnes was alive. He also didn't tell me that Hydra had brainwashed Barnes into being the Winter Soldier." Tony clenched his hands. "And he definitely didn't tell me that the Winter Soldier was responsible for killing for my parents."

Loki was quiet for a moment. Anger mingled with disbelief pulsed between them. "He knew?"

"Oh, he knew." Tony had to pause to get himself under control. Just remember that defiant look on Rogers's face when Tony posed that question made his blood boil. Because honestly, Tony thought that he could've forgiven Bucky Barnes if he'd just been given enough time and distance to work through his emotions before having the truth shoved in his face. Much as he hated to agree with Rogers, it really wasn't Barnes's fault. 

But Tony hadn't been given that luxury. Rogers hadn't thought enough of Tony to bother telling him the truth, too afraid that Tony wasn't capable of being the bigger man. Too afraid that all of Tony's numerous resources would be taken away, leaving Rogers to find other ways of pursuing his friend. Too busy putting Bucky Barnes first, ahead of everyone. The way it would always be with him. It was just one of many reasons that Tony had no interest in working with Cap and his team in the future. He couldn't even trust that Rogers would put anyone or anything but Bucky Barnes first. 

"What did you do?" Loki asked. It sounded like a simple question, but there was something darker hidden behind it that made Tony's skin fizzle pleasantly. He brought his hands up and set them over Loki's, realizing that the embrace, because there was no other word for it, was actually helping a lot. No one had held Tony like this for a very long time. He'd almost forgotten how good it could feel.

"I punched him in the face," Tony admitted.

Loki laughed. It was such an unexpected sound that Tony twisted around to look at him before he could stop himself. The clear mirth in Loki's face and eyes made Tony smile too. He had to admit, the memory of his fist hitting Rogers's face was one that Tony would cherish for the rest of his - very long - life. 

"I was angry. I just lost control. I..." Tony sighed again. "There was a guy who was trying to break the Avengers up. He thought we were responsible for - well, it doesn't matter now. The point is, he set things up perfectly so that I would see a video of when my parents died. I actually saw the Winter Solider put his hands around my mom's neck..." Tony trailed off, smile fading as his throat tightened. That would be another memory Tony would remember forever, but for an entirely different reason. His mother's piteous, gasping sobs had kept him awake at night more than once. 

"I'm sorry," Loki said, sobering at once.

It was the first time anyone had said that to him. That threw Tony for a loop. He found himself turning around, though Loki didn't let go of him. To make it a little less awkward, Tony put his hands on Loki's hips and looked up at him. Talking about what had happened hadn't been as painful as Tony had expected it to be. It helped, he realized, that Loki was removed from the situation. It was the next best thing to telling an impartial observer. 

"Thanks," Tony said quietly. "It was... very hard for me. I never told anyone about what happened, not even Rhodey or Pepper. I think they knew that something more had happened than what I let on, but neither one of them pushed. And then Thanos came, and then I was dying in space..." He rested his forehead against Loki's shoulder.

"It's horrible when people hide things that other people deserve to know," Loki said softly.

"You sound like you're speaking from experience," said Tony.

"I am. Odin - my adopted father - never told me that I was actually adopted. He led me to believe that I was merely his inferior son," Loki said. "He taught me that my true race were monsters. I know now that he kept me to keep the peace and to keep a defeated foe from rising up against him, not because he wanted or loved me. He didn't tell me any of this until I found out myself... and then, when I rose up against him, he only cared for Thor and let me fall to Thanos."

Tony absorbed that in silence. Thor had talked a lot about Loki during the weeks where they all lived in the compound together. Barton and Romanov hadn't wanted to hear any of the stories, and Rogers hadn't been around long enough to hear them. So it was mostly Tony who had listened. And now that Tony was really, truly thinking about it, he realized that Thor had never once spoken about _why_ Loki had suddenly became evil. All Thor ever did was tell stories of when he and Loki were younger and, while those stories were fun to listen to, they never got to the heart of the problem.

"Odin was an asshole," Tony said finally.

Loki snorted. "That is putting it mildly." He rested his head atop Tony's. 

"So we're two people with daddy issues. That's great," Tony said, though he couldn't find it in himself to be upset. Pepper came from a happy family; she was close with her parents and her sister. So it wasn't always easy for her to understand why Tony struggled so much with his memories of Howard. He had the feeling that, if he ever chose to tell Loki about Howard, Loki would understand perfectly.

"Indeed," Loki said dryly. "Would you like me to smite Rogers?"

Tony choked on a startled laugh, lifting his head. "What? No."

"Are you sure? It wouldn't take much power at all. We'd barely be tired."

"No, Loki. We might need his help against Thanos."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "You seriously wish to work with him again?"

"Absolutely not. I'd rather bite off my own arm," Tony said frankly. "But if it's for the world... for all those people... I don't know that I have a choice. I have to do whatever it takes to destroy Thanos, remember? That's why we did this." He gestured between them. Not that he'd say as much out loud, but this whole bond thing wasn't turning out as badly as Tony had initially feared. It was actually pretty good so far. Tony seriously doubted that working with Rogers was going to turn out this beneficial. 

"I see your point," Loki said. "But if he touches you, I'm going to have to smite him a little bit. You are mine after all."

Tony thought about that for a moment. Then he nodded. "I am surprisingly okay with that. So long as you leave him intact to fight against Thanos, you can do whatever you want. It would serve him right to be the one who has to deal with magic for once."

"What do you mean?" Loki asked, and curiosity flared up between them again.

Tony gave a grim smile, deciding that he might as well tell Loki everything they could be in for, and asked, "Have you ever heard of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch?"


	6. Chapter 6

They were here. Tony stood before the window and watched the limo pull up in front of the Compound with less dread than he would have expected. No sooner had the limo come to a stop than the back door swung open and Steve Rogers launched himself out onto the pavement. Tony stiffened slightly, clenching his hands into fists behind his back. He watched in silence as Clint Barton and Natasha Romanov got out after them. Romanov shut the door behind them, which was enough to make Tony frown. Where were Maximoff, Wilson, and Barnes?

After a moment, the door on the other side of the limo opened and Bruce Banner, a raccoon and a tall, striking woman got out. The woman closed the door behind the raccoon and said something to Bruce, then gestured to the Compound. Tony glanced down and saw that Thor was striding out of the building, followed by several other Asgardians. Thor swept Bruce in a joyful hug, patted the raccoon on the head, and pounded the woman on the back. She, in turn, hauled off and punched Thor in the arm. Thor merely laughed at her actions and pulled her into a hug too.

"That is Valkyrie," Loki said over Tony's right shoulder. "Thor tells me the raccoon is Rocket."

"Huh," Tony said, examining Valkyrie with renewed interest. She looked like a force to be reckoned with. 

Loki stepped up close, observing the small group with narrowed eyes. "Where is the witch you spoke of?"

"I'm not sure. There's no way she wouldn't be with Cap if she was still around. She stuck to him like glue. So maybe..." Tony felt a small spark of hope mingled with relief at the thought that maybe Maximoff had perished in the Decimation, and that's why she hadn't come with Rogers and his team. If anyone deserved that fate, it was her. 

Though he had to admit, he was a little disappointed that he wouldn't get the chance to see Loki clash with her. That would've been a fight for the ages.

"Pity," Loki said, echoing Tony's thoughts exactly. "But that's alright. I'll still be here when we bring everyone back, and I can smite her then."

"You certainly can," Tony said. He wasn't going to argue with that, and didn't even mind working to bring Maximoff back if it meant that he could see her finally get her comeuppance in the form of someone who was infinitely stronger and more skilled than she was. It would do Wanda Maximoff good to be brought down a peg or two. She was far too used to thinking she was at the top of the food chain.

"I see the captain is here, though," Loki went on. He smiled, and Tony felt the echo of anger and something that could only be described as an urge to hunt echo through the bond. "As well as the spider, and the archer. I wonder if the archer remembers me."

"He does," Tony said without a bit of hesitation.

"Excellent." Loki's eyes flashed turquoise. "Let's go greet them then, shall we?" He offered his arm to Tony. Tony grinned, checked for the tenth time to make sure he still wore his bracers that could call the armor to him, and slid his arm through Loki's. He allowed Loki to escort him over to the bedroom door and then out into the hallway.

They made it downstairs just as Rogers was striding into the Compound like he owned the place. It was possible that he did. Money wasn't really something that Rogers had ever stopped to think about - he didn't have to, not when Tony's credit card was paying for everything. Tony was positive that none of the Avengers, not even Rhodey, had ever stopped to think about the fact that it was Tony's dime that had paid for the Compound. He was the one who kept it running, supplying electricity, heat, food, a cleaning service, new equipment, etc... all of which Tony did without being repaid.

That was going to change starting now. If the Accords Council wanted a say in how the Avengers were run, then they could damn well start footing some of, if not all of, the bill for the team. But now wasn't the time to bring that up with their so-called illustrious leader. Tony suspected that Cap was going to be in for enough of a shock as it was. No doubt Rogers had some grand images in mind where he would dramatically sweep in and figure out how to save everyone, while Tony knelt at his feet and wept in gratitude that Captain America had returned.

Fat chance of that ever happening.

He could tell the moment that Rogers caught sight of them, because he came to an abrupt stop and he did a double take. His jaw dropped so low that Tony could see the bottom row of his teeth. Barton and Romanov were right behind him. Tony relished the expression of shock that flashed over Romanov's face. He knew he'd gotten to her in that moment, because Romanov prided herself on maintaining a blank mask to keep her emotions hidden whenever possible. Barton, on the other hand, let out a shocked yell and immediately grabbed for his bow and arrow. By the time he had an arrow ready, there were a dozen guns pointing at him.

"Barton!" Rhodey barked. "What the hell are you doing?"

"That's Loki!" Barton shouted, looking around with wild eyes. Tony stiffened slightly, but was reassured when Loki's free hand came up to cover Tony's where they rested on Loki's elbow. 

"Obviously," one of the ex-SHIELD agents said. She wore a look of deep disgust, and it was hard to tell whether her gun was pointed at Barton or Romanov. Tony belatedly realized that some of these ex-SHIELD agents might not be happy to see Romanov after what Romanov had done: a _lot_ of SHIELD agents had been compromised when Romanov dropped all those files on the internet. Tony had struggled to save a lot of them, but in spite of his best efforts several had died.

Romanov put a hand to her hip, where she no doubt had a gun, though she didn’t pull it yet. “Stark, what’s going on?” she asked warily, eyes sweeping around the room. 

“Nothing,” Tony said, all innocence.

“Tony,” Rogers said. 

“Don’t speak to him,” Loki said sharply. 

Barton’s fingers twitched on the arrow. “You shut the fuck up!”

“Okay, everyone _stop_!” Rhodey bellowed, striding into the middle of the room. He put his hands out. “There is no need to turn this into a gunfight. I am going to ask everyone who is not an Avenger to please vacate the room while we get this handled.”

With a great deal of reluctance, weapons were put away and everyone filed out of the room until it was just Rogers, Barton, Romanov, Rhodey, Loki, and Tony. The front doors opened a moment later and Thor, Valkyrie, Bruce and Rocket came in. Thor took one look around at the tense situation and his cheerful smile immediately faded. He quickly and quietly moved to flank Tony and Loki. Bruce, Valkyrie and Rocket stayed near the doors. Tony couldn’t blame them for that.

“What the fuck is that asshole doing here?” Barton hissed. 

“Put your weapon down, Barton,” Rhodey ordered. “You are not permitted to have your weapons drawn in this building. I will have you removed.”

“There is no way I’m putting my bow down. Are you kidding?” Barton said, gaping at them. “That’s _Loki_! Isn’t anyone else seeing him?!”

“I see him,” Romanov said, reaching out and putting her hand lightly on Barton’s arm. 

“So do I,” Rogers said, his jaw set. “Tony, answer Natasha. What is going on?”

Tony looked him right in the eyes and realized that he was no longer afraid of Steve Rogers. It was shocking, in a way, because up until this moment he’d been convinced otherwise. But right now, looking at the three of them, it hit him that Rogers was just a man. A man who was struggling to keep up and stay afoot in a politically-minded world. A man who, after tearing everything apart, really had nothing to show for it. 

Whereas Tony, on the other hand, had gone through literal hell and come out the other side with the devil at his side. He was soul bonded to a god. He had another god as a brother-in-law. He had magic now, of a sort. And even beyond all of that, he was still Tony Motherfucking Stark, with all of his fame, money, and intelligence to show for it. He was _so much better_ than Captain America could ever hope to be. What did it matter what these assholes thought of him?

And right then and there, Tony realized something else. He was done with trying to impress the Avengers. He was done with trying to be friends with them, never mind a family. He was even done with playing nice. If they didn’t like what was going on, that was just too damn bad. The days where Tony bent over backwards to make them happy, usually to his own detriment, were over. Tony was _done_.

“What’s going on, Rogers,” Tony began, “is that your plan didn’t work. Shocking, I know, considering that you’d thought it out _so well_.”

Rogers looked affronted. “That’s not –”

“Shut up!” Tony snapped. “I warned you repeatedly that Thanos was coming, but none of you listened to me. You thought I was overreacting, or being stupid.” He looked all three of them in the eyes, one at a time. “And then when you finally realized I was right, your only plan was that we would work together? Did you think this was some lame after school special where the heroes always win? Because it’s not.”

“Tony – ” Romanov began.

“Hold your tongue,” Loki hissed.

“Thanos almost killed me. Loki saved my life,” Tony said, fingers tightening on Loki’s arm. He intertwined their fingers, delighting in the shocked looks that action resulted. “That’s why he’s here. He actually has a vested interest in defeating Thanos, and recognizes that we need an actual plan to make that happen.”

“You can’t just invite him here!” Barton exclaimed. “He brainwashed me!”

“Yeah, I wonder what that’s like,” Bruce said darkly. “Having to work with someone who took over your mind and brainwashed you, and made you do terrible things and even kill people. What is _that_ like?!” He was breathing heavily by the time he was done, and Valkyrie set a hand on his shoulder.

“Wanda is dead,” Romanov said. “She died in the Decimation. So did Wilson and Barnes.” She looked at Tony meaningfully as Rogers flinched, like that was supposed to mean something to Tony. He only stared at her coldly, unmoved.

“Pity,” Loki drawled. “I would’ve liked to have dealt with her… personally.”

“You –” Barton looked furious.

“Tony,” Rogers said again. “This isn’t right. You must know that. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

“You’re right, it didn’t. You’ll probably never understand what I mean by this, but you’re the one who made things this way. I gave you _everything_ ,” Tony said, at once amazed and disappointed at himself. “And none of you could appreciate it. You just wanted more and more.”

“That’s not true,” Rogers said, shaking his head. “Clearly, Loki has brainwashed you. He’s a psycho murderer!”

Thor shifted. “Have care how you speak of my brother, Captain,” he warned dangerously, and Loki smirked as Thor rested one hand on Loki’s shoulder and the other hand on Tony’s shoulder. The hand on Tony’s shoulder was crawling with lightening that, curiously, didn’t burn. Rogers had the grace to turn pale at the sight of it.

“I’ll accept your help against Thanos,” Tony announced, tiring of the conversation. “But that’s it. Consider us finished beyond that, Captain. I am no longer funding any of you. You’re going to have to find your own lodgings tonight.”

“You can’t do that!” Romanov said.

“Yes, I can. I own this Compound, remember? Until the Council starts paying their share, I decide who stays here. And even then, you may be shit out of luck. None of you signed the Accords, if I remember correctly, so even though people are willing to look the other way for the time being, that means you’re not technically Avengers.” Tony flashed them a bright smile. “Guess you better start brushing up on your political skills if you want to get anywhere.”

“This is bullshit!” Barton shouted, and let go of his arrow.

Loki’s hand snapped up. All three of them vanished in a flash of turquoise light. Barton’s arrow fell harmlessly to the floor. They all stared at the arrow for a moment, and then Tony turned his head to look at Loki. He found Loki already looking back at him. The mad light burning in Loki’s eyes should’ve been frightening, or at least slightly concerning, but if anything Tony just found it intoxicating. 

“Where did you send them?” Rhodey asked curiously.

“Away,” Loki said dismissively. “Far enough that they won’t be able to make it back overnight.”

“I hope you dumped in the lake,” Bruce said, finally venturing closer. He smiled cautiously at Tony, who gave an equally cautious smile back.

“I would never do that,” Loki said demurely. And then, into Tony’s ear, he murmured, “I dumped them into the Arctic ocean.”

Tony stifled a laugh, hiding his smile in Loki’s shoulder. If they were smart, the three of them would reach out to Fury when they peeled themselves out of the ocean. But considering who he was talking about, that seemed unlikely. He was positive that three dripping wet, pissed off ex-Avengers would show up on the Compound’s doorstep come morning, but suddenly he no longer cared. He had more important things to figure out. If Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye could get their heads out of their asses long enough to help out, that was great. If not, he was completely confident that they’d be able to do it without their help. 

He looked around at all of them, squeezed Loki’s hand, and said, “Who wants cheeseburgers?”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
